Another Hit On The Wall

Abstract

Hydraulic structures are crucial for navigation, water management and flood protection in low-lying coastal and delta regions. Their importance is expected to continue growing in the coming years, because of the consequences of climate change and the continuous development and urbanization of these regions combined with more strict safety requirements. These factors will lead to the construction of a series of new hydraulic structures around the world. In addition, existing hydraulic structures will be renovated after reaching the end of the envisaged design lifetime, and/or due to the previously described modification of load conditions and/or safety standards. Wave loads play a significant role in the stability of these hydraulic structures and a knowledge gap was identified regarding the characterization of confined wave impacts acting on vertical hydraulic structures with overhangs. For this type of wave impact, no validated load prediction method or design approach was previously available. This research addresses this knowledge gap, providing an experimentally calibrated load prediction model and a design approach for characterizing confined wave impact loads acting on vertical hydraulic structures with overhangs.